You can't fight rot without getting your hands dirty. But how long before they stay that way?
---
3:14 A.M.
Naomi's Apartment – Forensics Drive Unlocked
The data was buried in a municipal cloud. Encrypted. Fragmented. Labeled "deleted."
But nothing stays hidden from someone who really wants it.
Naomi's screen flickers to life — and there he is:
Kai Noboru.
Walking into the warehouse.
Holding a weapon.
Exiting 14 minutes later, calm, hands red.
She breathes in.
Out.
Then rewinds the footage.
Again.
And again.
---
7:47 A.M.
St. Gabriel's High – Counselor's Office
Naomi confronts Matsuura.
> "You knew. You saw the signs."
"I reported it," he pleads. "I did. To the board. But the Hollow scare — they didn't want another witch hunt."
> "You buried a boy's death to protect your job."
She tosses a tablet on his desk.
Frame 47. Timestamped. Kai's face. No mask.
Matsuura covers his mouth.
> "What do you want me to do?"
She looks at him coldly.
> "I want you to tell the truth. One last time."
---
9:33 A.M.
Silas's Studio
Silas knows.
He watches Naomi from a drone feed. Watches her step into school with purpose.
Watches her hand rest on the gun inside her jacket.
> "She's coming."
He turns to Kai.
> "What will you do?"
Kai looks at the knife laid out before him.
> "What I was born to."
---
10:04 A.M.
Principal's Office – St. Gabriel's High
Naomi storms in, gun hidden but ready.
The principal is startled.
> "Detective—?"
"I have footage. Kai Noboru murdered Toru Miyasaka. With intent. With premeditation."
She drops the file.
The room goes silent.
Then:
> "We'll contact his guardian. Begin process—"
> "No," Naomi interrupts.
"He's dangerous. If you delay, more people will die."
---
10:16 A.M.
School Courtyard – Open Grounds
Naomi walks with security. They're going to get Kai quietly. No scene.
She turns the corner—
And sees a body.
Mr. Matsuura.
Blood across the tiles. Stabbed in the throat.
And written in blood:
> "You were too late."
---
10:18 A.M.
Security Room
Panic erupts.
Alarms go off.
Students are ushered inside classrooms. Lockdown.
Naomi pulls the radio from a guard's hand.
> "Get me Kai's last known location."
A whisper through the speaker:
> "Roof."
---
10:26 A.M.
School Rooftop
Naomi bursts through the door.
Wind howls.
Kai stands at the edge, back turned. Blood on his sleeves. Knife in hand.
He doesn't turn around.
> "He was going to talk," he says. "I couldn't let him."
> "Kai," Naomi calls out, voice calm. "It's over."
> "No," he whispers. "It's finally beginning."
He turns, golden sunset behind him.
And for just a second, he looks exactly like Silas.
> "Do you hate me?"
Naomi steps forward, gun drawn but lowered.
> "I don't. That's the problem."
Kai smiles.
> "Then you understand."
And he jumps.
---
10:31 A.M.
Courtyard
Naomi runs down the stairs, breath ragged.
Kai's body isn't there.
Blood.
Shattered tiles.
No corpse.
Just a message, spray-painted on the wall:
> "The Hollow is not one."
---
Final Scene
Silas drives out of the city.
Kai sleeps in the back seat, bruised but alive. Bandaged.
Silas glances at him in the mirror.
> "That was reckless."
Kai replies, half-smiling:
> "That was freedom."
---
Final Line:
> "We're not a story anymore," Kai says, eyes closed.
"We're the ending."
---